Skydiving plane with 18 on board crashes in vineyard near Lodi
A skydiving plane with 18 people on board crashed and flipped over Thursday in a Northern California vineyard, authorities said.
The pilot suffered a minor injury, but none of the passengers were injured, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The single-engine plane took off about 2 p.m. from Lodi Municipal Airport, but the Cessna 208 had engine trouble just after leaving the runway, Gregor said.
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The pilot tried to bring the aircraft back to the airport, but the Cessna struck a pickup on its descent. The plane crashed and overturned in the vineyard in rural San Joaquin County, near Acampo, about a quarter-mile from the airport.
The driver of the Toyota Tacoma pickup, Cindy Martin, told the Lodi News-Sentinel that she saw the plane dip below the power lines before it struck her vehicle.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, that plane is going to hit us -- and this is a new truck,’ †she told the news outlet. The plane’s passengers were “pretty excitable,†she said.
The plane is owned by Nevada-based Flanagan Enterprises Inc., according to FAA records. The company’s president listed in Nevada public records, Ian Flanagan of Alberta, Canada, could not be reached for comment.
The crash is under investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
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For more California news, follow me @MattHjourno. E-mail me at [email protected].
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